It's A Wonderful World
by SelMelvins
Summary: IAWW is back. Remember when Blaze awoke in a strange city, and was chased by those Jet Set Radio-esque street punks, the HappyBears! Sadism Union, or when she met C.H.I.B.I., the tiny robot who couldn't speak straight? If so, you rock. And it all begins when this pyrokinetic kitten wakes up one day in a vague, funky city and is chased by android police in ball calls... それは素晴らしい世界です
1. Just Another Day

_Enjoy_

_~SelenaMelvin_

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_We were a fucking team, and now we're fucking dead. As I whittle away in a fire of static, the dark side of my mind lights up and ices over. Look at all the mistakes I've made, for there isn't a part of my mind where these don't repeat again and again and burn me. Infinite sadness becomes ultimate wisdom, all for nothing, all for a smile... a smile. _

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_それは素晴らしい世界です。_

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_(1) Just Another Day?_

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太郎田中はニューワールズが好きです

_It ended the same way it began: a question mark hiding in the middle of a blank page. All the choices were stale from the start. _

_I awoke to a ray of fire broiling my face._

But it wasn't fire. The sun sprouted on the horizon, glorified by jungles of crimson clouds. All below my view.

_a warring canvas, the kind the Renaissance borne would have always loved to have waded their fingers through. Cirrocumulus clouds drifted without conscious, one born not too far away from me on my right._

_Photoshopped pictures stand a better chance at being taken seriously._

"_Where in the world am I?" That was me. _ I'd have written myself off as dead, the stuff of buzzards and decomposers. There was a pain in my head, and it made me sick enough to sit up and see what I thought was an inferno consuming a building. It wasn't. Everything the morning sun's shine touched was splattered in fading crimson. The sky was laid out like a dying patient, bleeding brightening scarlet. The clouds were drenched in the blood of the sky. Anything shaded seemed blue, indigo even. It's a red versus blue world, and the sun, the doctor of the sky, was still an awakening giant.

A minute or two passed before I was oriented enough to stand. When I stood, I checked again to make sure I wasn't in some lucid dream. No, no cubes appearing from thin air. No rivers of chocolate raining from the sky.  
Just that French street I was standing in, and I took up much of the space. It was, gosh, a few meters wide? It rode a slope. I was paralleled on each side by low-headed stores and homes- are those homes?- many tinted a bright red hue by the sun, all with exotic plants. All the Grecian buildings, all of the postmodernist art feinting as structures, all of it was bright, and never once did my eyes find a dull color. Just contrasts.

A monorail line also came into the air from behind another line of buildings only for me to discover it's been there the whole time, shrinking as it lofts down the slope to its very base- is that it's base? From this level what was up and down began faking sense.

Slightly more naturally, clouds can be seen up in the sky too. Had it not been for the fact that those were cirrus clouds actually acting as fog , it would have seemed somewhat normal, making this city appear more... conventional. This time, I looked up. _Straight up_. Above me was a several-mile long array of small, rectangular, light turquoise, quasi-transparent shading panels. The lighting under these panels gives all of its shade a mild bluish tint, kept temperatures at a comfortable level and made the shade of such panel pseudocel-shaded. They were all in sets of five, held together by supports, hooked onto the very tops or centre-parts of buildings, running across the entire street. The variety of supports for these panels were coloured red, blue, and yellow.

That in itself was eye catching because I noticed something a little that wouldn't leave me alone, like a mosquito to one of its victims. Red, yellow, and blue were recurring colours and not any intermediate colour of the three either. Everything was as vivid and bright as those colours could have been. Occasionally, green was added to the mix as well, and the other colours in the spectrum were not a rarity here. It's just that this odd triad of primary colours was the king in a chromatic empire.

It all was created from the mind of a five-year-old. That's what it felt like. That's what I kept telling myself. I could peruse the sights all day and always get the same feeling of simple complexity. I looked down the slope. There it was! Yet _another _metropolis a few miles down! From my position, there was no telling how tall they were, except that I was still so much higher than the peaks of their spires that the effects of distance still took place.

I couldn't tell if there was anything as bizarre at the top of the city, but at the bottom, there were dozens of recognizable objects and structures. There's a tall, RYB needle styled tower, a jungle of pipe-like objects twisting throughout an entire section, and many, many more things. Although both cities are, but the lower city is more obviously hugged with the morning red sun. It's all connected. It's all one city. That road was just one of hundreds, if not thousands. What's more is, this city wasn't getting any plainer. It was just one big shock after another.

Small cumulus and stratus clouds passed on by below me, and the small street tilted mildly downwards as it descended. It also tilts at the same level towards to the top- at least a 35 degree angle the entire way. I thought this slope, this mountain I was on, was miles high. Good call. The city was on a shoreline, that much I could tell. In the distance, bright sapphire water sparkled in the amazingly bright sunlight. It was so clear, I could even make out waves. The incredibly blue waves sparkle in the sun like diamonds in a bright light. It's as if the ocean was reflecting a night sky.

The distances involved here were tremendous. The ocean was probably well over fifteen miles away, so at least some form of haze should have set in. However, things were very clear, clearer than anywhere I've ever been to. It was as if the hands of God wiped it all away.  
A huge red bridge materialized from the horizon, which visibly had developed land on it, and crawled onto the shore, disappearing into the RYB urban jungle.

I also heard the sounds of the city, working in harmonic beauty. It's as if the daily grind in this urban jungle created a musical beat.

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So what is all of this? Why was I here? For what purpose?

'Is this another time? It doesn't seem like the present day. I wonder why I was brought here.' Nothing special, nothing dramatic. The usual 'where am I' cliche!

Turquoise blue rings appeared to defy gravity and hover around his wrists and neck. His hairstyle was god-awful. It's silver-on-mint black, spiky, and neck long, like an anime character. He was also wearing rather _flamboyant _sunglasses. His shirt was covered with techno-trance culture oriented symbols, all luminescent with glowing magenta and cyans. Most radically is a neon-lit headset embedded into his forehead, where strobes flash to and fro from his temple back into his hair. That's who walked across my path first.

I wanted to play it Bogart, but my mouth wanted to defy me.

"Yeah, uh, do you, erm... .know... where... uh.. Okay, okay... Do you know where we, I are, _am! Am! _Do you know where I ar- am?" The man, brow flattened in what I could only suggest was disinterest, scoffed at me and walked on. I sighed. I'm usually not that bad with words, especially around strangers. Why I was so awkward at that point probably had more to do with my location shock than anything else. Before I even had a moment to curse myself for that horribly poor performance, low-pitched sirens rang out from above. Some people looked back but quickly lost interest. I turned around and looks up the sloped street, looking for the cause of the sound.

Lo and behold, at least ten spherical police cars came screaming down the road at high speeds. Driven forward by singular wheels on the bottom of their perfectly round bodies, they had no strain nor difficulty speeding up on the starkly inclined roads.

What did I do? I stood there like deer in headlights, bewildered. I didn't see any criminals running away. No gunshots, no criminals, no evildoers, nothing. Everything seemed ordinary, just another day.

As the "cars" sped faster towards me, they suddenly gained a huge burst- they were pushing at least six hundred miles per hour. Why it didn't before, don't ask me, but_ that's _when it hit me.

"They're after_** me!**_" I have to kick myself for not figuring that out sooner than I did. Turned tail and alert, there was nothing the situation allowed me to do but run. I didn't even have time to think about attacking. The police cars, of course, happily pursuing, sirens a-blaring, and the odd population barely caring. They were walking as usual!  
There is no reason why the police, if that's what these things were, chasing me. I held a need to scorch everything in sight, starting with them. Knowledge of self-defense flashing in my mind, I tensed every muscle in my body.

Here they come. I jumped. Immediately following- a fiery roundhouse kick. Tongues of fire splashed throughout the area and on the vehicles. I thought it was perfect. Did I make impact? No. I... _I phased right through them!_ I was absolutely _stunned_. Attacks were useless against those things.

I saw the road twist downward in a spiral– the buildings still somehow following this crazy snake road. Instead of running down the steep path blindly, I made a left, bypassing the road entirely and landing on a rooftop. I jumped down onto another street below. It twisted downwards from the street where I was running on earlier. The cars from before then dropped me like a meteor- they materialized through solid walls! Once back on the outside, the chase for me continued.

**"How is that even **_**possible?**_**" **What time had I to think? None. None at all, and they lent me none for assurement! In one skewed direction from me was a boastingly large carrier truck. Wasting no time, I leapt onto the top of the trucker, nearly slipping at first. My foot slipping and grinding against the street, I was able to get on top and lay on my back. I panted. Sweat stung my eyes and my resolve. I sighed again. This was really happening!

I threw a glance back once, but I was too high. I couldn't see a thing over the back. The truck abruptly stopped.

I flew off of the top, skipping onto the road in front of the vehicle several times. Not wasting a single moment, I instantaneously rebounded and leapt onto a car parked on the side of a building, made an acrobatic front-flip onto the top of a white mortar overhanging on a building, landed on and jumped across various branches of several surrounding oak trees, and then made _one last jump _to the top of the building.  
I ran from there, jumping over gaps between buildings. It's been a long time since I took up free running and parkour, and I had a gut feeling this wouldn't be the last time I had to do this acrobatic art before I left the city. Eventually I had to stop check if the police were even bothering to chase me. I took one careful glance back...

As if it were all a great big nightmare, the 10 police cars gave up their wheels and morphed into _flying saucers_. They hovered over the building I had landed on first, and transformed again into balls, where they bounced across the buildings and over the gaps. I winced at the sight of this but had little time to react. Where had I become so foolish to have not learned from history... but... what? What kind of memory was this? Why, for this one singular fractured second, I was awash with some feeling of deja vu.

Run. I just had to run- again.

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***- **_**It's A Wonderful World**_** -*******

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**5 Years Ago**, from December 2008 to April 2009, I came up with a bizarre and visual oriented fanfiction known as SBDRF: Sonic and Blaze Do Russia Future. Far removed from a fanfiction I wrote under the same name in 2011, as well as its recently remastered predecessor, SBDR: Sonic and Blaze Do Russia, SBDRF from 2009 was a massive undertaking of almost unequaled and unbridled creativity and seemingly avant garde psychedelia oriented subject matter; a written form of impressionism. Nearly 400 chapters were planned, none of which could have been acted upon at the time due to the woefully inept and bare literary skills I then owned. Over 1,100 story ideas were created in a 4-month period, many of them originating as dreams, or by way of chance thoughts, specific, sometimes cerebral music (usually by the act _Radiohead_), and a few finely-crafted mental movies.

This is one of them.

_SBDRF: Sonic and Blaze Do Russia Future_ circa 2009 is a fan work by the Sky Hedgehogian Maestro.

_Sonic the Hedgehog_™ is owned by Sega Corporation®. I do not claim ownership of Sonic the Hedgehog franchise or any characters, locations, or concepts contained therein.

SBDRF: Sonic and Blaze Do Russia is no longer a valid or active literary work, however _the Sky Hedgehogian Maestro _asserts ownership over any fan-made concept not relegated canon.

Any little quirk you've read that you think needs improvement, tell me. Please, please, please, please, please, please, pleeeeease review. Otherwise, all my efforts would have been in vain.


	2. Primal Instincts

_(2) Primal Instincts_

I jumped into the air and tried to tornado kick one of the vehicles again. It simply wobbled left and right and moved on, unscathed. It wasn't scaring me then, but I was still concerned as to why these vehicles were invincible.

Back flip. I landed on another building. Fire growled in my hands. I waited for one of the cars to rise. There it was, right in front of my face. I tossed the ball of flames. The fire impacted that particular car, falling off like buckets of bright orange water.

_What are these things made of? _I had no choice but to turn around and run faster than before, _much _faster.The advanced police vehicles instantly morphed into jet fighters, where they moved faster_. Much, __**much**__ faster._

I glanced back at them too long and fell into a river of water. It's an industrial river. The police vehicles streaked above me, leaving behind red, blue, and yellow contrails. Even though they are moving well above the speed of sound, they don't create sonic booms.

The long marathon brought me to the bottom of the city, so travel on the river helped to take me even further away from the 'crazy police'. The stream had a really strong current! I couldn't even get upright for the longest time.

The current took me to near an industrial plant, one with an amber coloured sky above it as if it were a polluted morning.  
I allowed the industrial river to carry me further downstream through a dirty, grassy field with several separate rivers. The city was in the background in every direction.

I noticed the coup-de-grace of this mega-city- a humongous heptagon-like pyramid styled building to the west of me in the 'lower city'. Coloured in red, blue, yellow, and green and a massive spider web of scaffolding-like supports twisting and looping around the building, it personified the progressiveness of this entire city.

The large complex itself was covered with large, light blue windows. It had to be over a mile high. It towered over all other buildings and even stretched into the sea. It could be mistaken to be a rocket, if it weren't so tall and so painted, and then to see it stand centre and vehement with its smaller RYB acolytes. A cabal of kings they were, these crimson-crowned structures regaling over the city. For now, that was the last I saw of it.

OoOo~OoOoOo~OoOoOoOo~OoOo~OoOo~OoOoOo~OoOoOoOo~OoOo

"_What was that all about?" _I couldn't figure out just what happened. I had no clue as to whom or what was chasing me, why, _how,_ and I had no idea where I was.

While floating along, I watched as small buildings grew in the distance. I was in the river for about _five_ minutes, give or take. Less than a few seconds later, the buildings were then huge, towering over me as I moved down the now quiet and weak stream.

I grabbed hold onto a ledge and climbed out of the river. Two vanilla-white coloured buildings ran parallel, both on each side of me, both at least 2 to 3 stories high . No windows. There were several of these buildings lined up, extending at least 500 metres.

There was a plaza at the far end of me. It was a step higher, but indifferent. The ground was white and seemed to be made up of some form of asphalt. At the end of this long space is another building. Nothing here seemed damaged in any way. Despite probably being years old, it all looked as if it were brand new.

Moving down this long alleyway, I ran up to and looked around the final building to see an identical row of buildings. A large, long space. A big step. Three buildings at the end. A large, long space. A big step. Three more complexes were at the end, but it was easy to tell there were two diverging paths at the end. I thought this was the dumbest maze ever constructed.

Finally, after at least thirty minutes of staring at white walls, I came across life.

_They would become the first of many unique individuals I'd meet in this epic._

There were four individuals, all equally as garish and outlandishly dressed as anyone else in this metropolis. They were all spray-painting obscenities in black and red onto a wall. The red, I was certain, even from that distance, _didn't _look very much like _paint _at all.

I gulped but I wasn't afraid. Fear was the claustrophobic roads I left behind twenty minutes ago.

_There was no way, __**no way**__ these kids could possibly be nice. _Svengali vibes were all I could arrange.

"Uh...h-hello. I... I uh, I... d'uh I. . ." The four pause, then turn around slowly. Three never made a complete rotation and went back to painting the wall. The scrawny human was the first to say something- the only one to say something.

"_Where'd this kitten come from_?" The man, or boy, was wearing a big frock coat, with its 360 degree collar covering the lower part of his head, mouth, and nose. The coat was black. He had pants that were, well, _pants_. They were grey and tight fitting with red spider-web-like flairs coming off of the bottom of the legs. Then I saw skates! Black and red skates. He was wearing black gloves with the little tip by the wrist chipped off in a small triangle decorated with a scruffy eye motif. The scruffy eye is one that I may not easily forget for as long as I have left.

His hair was combed backwards and upwards, giving him velvety black hair that was pretty much a disaster- it screamed 'punk'. He had bangs that were coloured red. His eyes were green, but half open and coloured black with heavy eyeliner around it to look gothic. As for his voice, it wasn't high pitched, but... Sort of what they termed '_snagglepuss_,' borderline outwardly gay without presenting itself in too strong a manner, the same kind I heard on many royal courts before. I could only guess he was somewhere an inch above five feet.

His cohorts his cohorts, the bears, were a tan-mahogany with plastered smiles fixed into their own positions. Half oval eyes arcing upwards, they seemed overrun by a general making that bordered _A Clockwork Orange_ meets _Sailor Moon_. Suggesting they were costumed and this was not their true persons, they were had two bare feet without toes, but something suggesting whatever they were wearing had shoes cleverly stitched in. In this world, my mind was not my friend- there was no reason to deny they weren't real anthropomorph bears and not men in campy bear costumes. The first scrawn-built one could stand on his shoulders and still not top these exaggerated beings' necks.

"_I'm not a kitten!_ I _just _want to know **where! I! Am!" **I screamed back. I was already having an off day, so I didn't need loons holding me back. After all, I'm a princess and a guardian- I had many better things to do than raise chat with those freaks.

"_Where'your manner, bi_... _Are you serious_?" he retorted.

"Believe what you want. I have no reason to waste my time with people as ridiculous as _you._" I stopped and realized an essential detail I had forgotten. "_Waitwaitwait_, I don't even know who _you_ are!" I reminded myself not to trust a word they say, unless, of course, they earned the _privilege _of trust.

"Us? _US_? You _really _haven't been around the block lately if you don't know who _WE_ are!" the kid screams back. I put my fingers to my chin as I looked at the four in pity and disdain.

"No. You look like _freaks_," I replied with brutal honesty. The kid rolled his eyes as soon as I finished.

"Thank you _Ms. Holmes_! _I didn't know that_," was his caustic answer. "If you're_ that _hopeless, my name is Hayashi X, leader of Ticcy C's infamous 'HappyBears'" I could have sworn I felt a question mark literally pop out of my head and I'd believe one did too if I didn't already know such a thing isn't possible.

"HappyBears? What kind of name is-" I looked at Hayashi curiously, confounded.

"You must be outta the loop. HappyBears," he said, pronouncing the syllables as clearly as possible. "_**Ha-ppy-Bears.**_." Again, I didn't fully understand what was being said to me. "And like you heard- I hope, this is Turquoise City- the biggest, baddest, and bestest city out there," Hayashi raves. I remember he was like a brainwashed fan boy.

"T-Turquoise City?" I stuttered. I had absolutely no idea where Turquoise City was, or whether it was in my world or Sonic's. A moment passed before Hayashi scoffs and groans.

"Forget it. You won't understand until _we_ tell_ you_!" Hayashi pulls out a small, ring-like device and throws it onto the ground. A hologram was created. It's a map. "This is Turquoise City, better known as "Ticcy C". You're on Vyvsmerian soil, and we got news for ya'- you're on _our_ turf, hot stuff." As all four members of this "HappyBears" turned toward me, the holo-map suddenly popped a date out in front of them.

"_What?!_" I cringed a little, at first not comprehending _what _I was seeing. My eyes sprinted towards the date... and it ran back to me- '2099'! _That meant I time-traveled_! But how?

"But...how can this be?" I felt overwhelmed. What was I here? Why _this _time period? Hayashi ignored me and continued ranting.

"We are the HappyBears, the hottest, deadliest, and most perverted NSR gang out there, and _we _now rule this section city and _we _do what we please anytime we want." He then mutters this under his breath. "We just gotta get rid of The Psychoteque ... then this will be _my_ town..." I looked at him as if he had lost his mind. "Some retarded Governor _cronies, _the Static Police, think they can rub us out."

"Wait, Static Police..." Words never before stabbed me as many times in as few seconds as they had then. My neurons began bridging the minute the name was brought up. Static Police=the same as...

"A buncha paranoid androids driving balls," Hayashi confirmed. I perked up and looked at him. Those few words were a library of information. Of course, libraries are useless if you don't understand what it is you read, and even less if you don't know how to read.

"So the ones who chased me," I began," _were_ the Static Police! They must've mistaken me for one of you! Now I get it! They're not the bad guys!_ You _are!" I hissed at Hayashi.

"Yeah, now you got us!" He grinned malevolently. "We're NSRs, the _HappyBears! Sadism Union_. Remember that. Now I just have to ask _you _somethin', hot stuff, what's _your_ name?" I took a step back.

"Why should I tell _you_?" I growled. I couldn't believe I almost befriended sadistic criminals.

"Well we told you! And besides, I just need to know." He handled himself curiously, and my trained eyes spotted the many quirks of a trained liar losing a game of manipulation.

" . . . Blaze. Blaze the Cat," I replied, hesitating.

"Huh . . ." Hayashi looked down, then back at me. "You mean, _Princess_ Blaze the Cat?" Hayashi's eyes expanded. I followed suit. This is where everything went sour.

"_Uh!_ . . ." I began to back away slowly. When you fight for the side of justice, you know something bad is _destined _to happen, as it always does, when someone you don't know knows your name.

"So that means _you're_ the cat Kid Mobio and Svlis are looking for! I was wonderin' if you were Blaze the Spankin' Hot Cat, what with you being all overdressed and kitten-like and princess-like and as sexy as hell."

"You're fiends, criminals, evil... And no one's able to stop you..." _'Am I supposed to destroy them? Is that my purpose in this city? Could that be why I'm here?_ Everything happens for a reason.

"You'd better run. Even though you're pipin' hot, we still have to_ kill you_," His tone had degenerated into something rather disturbing as it was cynical.

"What? I won't run from the likes of you! It's all going down _right here, right now_!"

"_Nnnoooo_, I _think_ you _have_ to run." The other NSR turn around and finally saw me. I didn't want to know what they were thinking about me. I don't know what I was thinking either. I chose to run rather than fight. I still don't know why.

"Wait!"

"What is it now?" I turned back, waiting for a death threat.

"You have an absolutely . . . _**breathtaking **_. . . ass." _Awk...ward..._.

I quickly turned around, eyes widened, a bit perturbed, and ran away as fast as I could. I figured that if I could get a decent distance away and get them to split up, I could take them down one by one

Jumping onto the top of a building, I began to run from there, restarting what should have been a dead chase. The NSR followed swiftly. One of the NSRs jumped onto a parallel building and, rivaling my speed, tried to tackle me and he most certainly would have had I not He leapt across a wide gap over a canal-like industrial river. He missed, clearing the edge by at least a meter, and landed flat on his face.

Another NSR tried to throw what looked like a miniature _light saber _at me! Again, he missed because _I fell_, fortunately, into another gap.

Another industrial created river dragged me downstream. This time, I didn't spend more than a few seconds in the river. I swam to land and crossed over a river bank. I ran into a nearby street, now in downtown Turquoise City.

Unbelievably, _one hundred and fifty _Static Police vehicles were waiting for me in a _massive_ blockade. Hayashi and the HappyBears, saw this before I did and split. I kept running until I realized no one was following me at this point.

Stop.

"If the cat gets busted, we'll bust her out and bust her down. And what's the fun of having all of this Static Police in one spot and no one to trip 'em up?" Hayashi ordered his perversely happy cohorts to jump down and _roughen up _the situation.

I ran straight into the hands of an NSR.

"O-oh no!" As fate would have it, a Static Police "car" rammed straight into the 2, separating us. I tried to run again, but I ran into the Static Police. I turn around- _boom_. NSRs. Turn around. Guess what was in my face again. The Static Police. I was caught in a catch-22 situation. When I tried to move for an alleyway, Hayashi moved in to cut me off mere inches before escape.

"_Bonjour à ma amie nouvelle_."

"Wha-" On a high with adrenaline, I jumped onto the top of a deli-shop, giving Hayashi no time to react. Looking back down, I had to accept that the HappyBears and the Static Police saw every move.

For the Static Police, forget the other NSRs for a moment! _This _one's escaping! For the NSRs, _I'm getting away!_ But there was a difference between the two forces. The HappyBears _knew _I was not on their side; the Static Police didn't.

I followed my primal instincts.

_Run._

_Or die._


	3. Blink

_(3) Blink_

The Static Police could and would outspeed me. I couldn't deny that. I had to give them their dues for that. In their technologically advanced super-vehicles, the Static Police just might have been able to move faster than Sonic! _**Sonic!**_I needed a faster method of transportation.

The monorail! The cone shaped train just started to move from its station. I had no idea how fast it might have been able to go, so I hoped for the best. I hopped from building to building to reach the monorail track. I waited for the train to roll past me. It crept closer at a slow speed. It came closer and closer, but it couldn't come close enough fast enough. I began to have second thoughts about choosing the monorail. I bolted upwards and landed on top of the train. It was a snail.

"What the..._She's getting away!_" Hayashi turned the NSRs around and made them jump to a street below, one of the streets that goes up for miles. A Static Police vehicle hovered up to the monorail. The car resembled a galactic star cruiser.

_One hundred forty-nine more follow._

"This was a bad choice..." I began regret the decision to hop on top of this nearly stationary monorail.

I blinked.

A sonic boom! The monorail spontaneously increased its speed, bolting off at speeds upwards of at least 1,000 miles per hour. The Static Police were left in the dust. The HappyBears were out of sight. Everything was a blur, and it all became a rush. Unable to see anything, I couldn't tell if I escaped or not. All I knew was that I was going somewhere really, _really _fast.

"What a relief. For a second there, I thought I was done for..." _I wiped the sweat off of my forehead and sighed. This was the first time all day I felt safe._

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The HappyBears tore up the street below me. A gothic rainbow of purple, red, black, and indigo followed their skates.

"_NO!" _I screamed. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I had to jump off and fast! But I couldn't. Moving at this speed, my petite physique would've been ripped to shreds. But the outcome might not have been much different if I stayed on top.

Before I could think again, the Static Police charged behind me with a grudge. They surrounded me on all sides, leaving little chance for escape. So even if I wanted to jump off, it's impossible! Darkness surrounded us all. I thought it was all over.

The monorail reached the top of the mountain/plateau. Light overtook everything. It came to a stop _immediately_, as if it didn't obey the laws of motion. The slope leveled out on top of the plateau. I was holding onto the train for dear life. I was propelled up and over, then slammed down on the side of the train, still holding onto it.

"It's about ti-" I became paralyzed when I looked down the slope of Turquoise City.

A little over _five miles _above sea level, I could see over entire clouds. The sunshine is incredibly bright here and the sky is darker than normal. It's all clear, without haze or pollution. I don't think I've ever seen a more beautiful, or terrifying, sight in my life. Everything she saw in the Lower City seemed to be a _speck_ from where I was.

Everything below, with its myriad of colours, especially red, blue, yellow, and green, seems to be like a child's toy box with all of its variety. The view of the sea from here is a bit harder to make out but no less amazing.

Perfection was then ruined. The Static Police were rushing for me. Almost in rhythm, the monorail starts once more, this time twisting and swerving through buildings in the Upper City. My eyes weren't open at this point but I could feel all the turns and wiggles of the rail.

Without much time passing, the monorail, once again, came to a stop at a station parallel to the one from earlier. I decided that for as long I was being chased, I would not let go.

_(Sigh) To my dismay, the monorail began to tilt downwards as it began to move down the slope. This monorail felt more like a roller-coaster._

I found out the hard way Turquoise City wasn't just some shotgun city that goes up and down for miles and side to side for a few hundred feet. It's breathtakingly and over-exaggeratedly large.

As the monorail sped back down, it came to another abrupt stop. I lost my hold on the monorail's sides, how, I still don't know, and was launched through the massive city like a missile. Airborne, I wondered why I hadn't smashed into any buil-

_**SMASH!**_

I crashed into a building, cracking and blowing out its glass, sliding down a little, and peeling off. I fell to the ground. I can't remember how I felt, but I wasn't unconscious. Just delirious.

_I could almost hear the slide whistle playing in the background._

I fell towards a sidewalk. The Static Police and HappyBears had to have seen me, because they ran in my direction. I expected to hit the ground on my head and lapse into a coma. Instead, I kept falling. It all went dark! There's a splash, not of water, but of balls and stars. I landed on something solid, something _rubbery_, but I didn't know what it was.

I fell into this _"museum"_. Now, understand that I was in total pain because I just hit a building at mach speed, so as soon as I got my act together, I collapsed back down as explosions of pain tore across my small body.

I fell to the amazement to people on the ground and people in the museum. Why _wouldn't_ people be stunned to see a cat falling out of the sky?

Rubber red, blue, yellow, green, orange, and pink balls, separately, not all colours on one ball, mixed in with red and blue moons, and yellow stars. That's what I landed in. I was in some sort of toy container.

My head popped out and I spit out a ball or two. However, I had to duck back into the pool when I saw the Static Police and the HappyBears on the streets above.

I'm dead. That's what they have to think- I'm dead. I stayed as quiet as possible. The two groups became certain I didn't survive the impact and return to their usual rounds against _each other_.

I popped out again sighed the biggest sigh I can remember. Butterflies fluttered in my chest as I became relieved. It's all over! Whatever was going on is now over! I fell back and allowed myself to sink in the puddle of toys.

Clapping.

"That was awezome! I nevuh thought the old eggzpression "Waining Catz and Dogz" would come even _half twue _like it did juzt now." I winced a bit. Who was speaking, and why to me? Certainly no human would own A dokan wolf glanced at me before moving on. "_Down heuh!_"

"Oy..." sighed to myself as annoyance married me once again. Logic told me this day couldn't get any weirder. Logic is such a liar.

"Hi! My name is **Chibi**. It'z an acwonym,_ but _I don't want you to fall azleep on me."

"Uh . . . H-hi? I'm B-B-Blaze, which is... a-a word?"


	4. Friend?

_(4) Friend?_

"That waz quite a fall you had theuh!" Chibi helped me out of the multi-coloured pool. Small objects bounce on the floor as I stepped down.

"I-I-I guess." I dusted off my shoulder and looked into Chibi's false and digital eyes. I didn't really wonder at the time, but now I do think about why I was so sure a true intelligence was staring back at me.

"The Ztatic Polize have been acting pwetty weidly lately, but I _don't_ think they zhould have chazed _you_. Unlezz of... couwze you did zomething wong." He paused and looked up at me. He was created to be cute. I could tell. "_Did... _you do zomething wong?"

"I don't think so." I tried to think of anything that I may have done to upset the police. Nothing. Not one thing came to mind. They'd done more to me than I to them.

"Who awe _YOU_, anyway?" Chibi asked, and with that, that may be the last time I have to use this description tag.

I hesitated for a moment. It's not difficult to see why- last time I uttered my name, I wound up hitting a building at the speed of sound. "Blaze. Blaze the Cat," I replied demurely, still aching.

"That'z an intewesting name. But "Blaze" is aweady a _mow_ than taken name heuh." We were walking down a blue-hit hallway, not that different than one you might find in an underground aquarium. One might not have found it too bizarre if it had not been for the tingling sensation that I already had seen this somewhere before.

"_Are you serious?_" I laughed. In my own world, 'Blaze' is also a well-used moniker, but of course, as for myself, no one actually adopts it as their real first or last name.

"Yeah. I know, like, 700 'Blazez', and a good 30 of them awe sowt of like catz."

"You don't understand. My name reflects my powers." What I said next is not usually said to strangers, but shown, often against them, "I have... I have control over fire.."

" You... you awen't the zame Blaze the Cat, friend of _Zonic the Hedgehog_, awe you?" Chibi asked in astonishment. I sighed. Half of me told myself to stay quiet, lie even. I had already made the mistake once. If I made it twice, shame on me, and I don't like shame.

"Yes." I paused. "I am."

"But that'z... impozzible...You don't even..." Chibi thought for a second, then changed the subject. "So you were chased by the Ztatic Polize..."

"And the HappyBears, or whatever they're called," I quickly added.

"Even the _Illyad _weh chazing you? _At the zame time?_" He seemed taken aback as if he had never heard of such a thing before. That being said, I didn't care for his response, only what he said.

"Illyad?" Another name I knew nothing of.

"Yeah. The HappyBears awe alzo known as the Illyad." Like that, the senseless made even less sense.

"Yes, for past hour or so, I believe the Static Police mistook me for one of them."

"I guezz theh's a fuhzt time foh evewythi- Ah! Wait! Now I know why they weh chazing you! You look like an infamouz N-ez-aw!." 'N ez aw?' It took me a moment.

I remembered Hayashi's sadistic grin. "We're _**NSRs**_. Remember that." NSRs. Whatever that meant, that must've been what he was talking about.

"NSR?" Chibi nods, smiling. A holographic picture then materializes in front of us both. I stared at the picture, finally beginning to connect some of the wildly isolated dots. The youth in the picture had shadowy pink hair- the hue, if in decent enough lighting, might even be mistaken for my own shade of lavender- and the hair was styled in a fashioned almost _exactly _like mine. Her hazel eyes insulted my own- how dare someone from a detached universe look so much like myself. For that one half second, I couldn't help but let my neurons wonder if I was looking at myself, as a human...

"So, wait... They simply _mistook _me for someone else?" As unlikely as it sounded, it made sense. In the world I hail from, misunderstandings have led me and my friends through countless, often drawn out, adventures.

"The Ztatic Polize, yez. The Illyad, I'm not suah about." I turned around and considered this. Then I turned back to Chibi.

"You said your name was "Chibi", correct?"

"Check!"

"And you're a robot?"

"100 puhzent."

"Hm." I figured that he appears friendly enough to trust. Still, I had to hold onto my suspicions for the time being. " What's with your speech?" I'm normally more politically correct than to ask such a blunt question outright, but I told myself that, if I were to ever trust him, I'd need to know all the reasons he is the way he is- and if I found any faultering in his explanation and the then apparent truth, that would be the guillotine on the relationship.

"I was wenabbed 3 yeuhz ago, but a glitch mezzed with my neuwal pwogwamming. I can't pwonounze "aws' oh zoft 'ezez' pwopuhly until I can get it figzed myzelf. Um...You know, the..,"

"Yeah, r's and soft s's." I now was able to safely presume that, unless English had changed drastically by this period, any word he used that sounded like it needed an 'r' or 's' probably did. "Hmm. _Renabbed_. What does _that _mean?"

"Zowt of like..." Chibi tried to put his finger on it. "Zowt of like.. Zowt of... Huh...Ah! It'z like bwinging the dead back to life! Oh well, in my caze, rezetting old wobots."

"Really?" That piqued my interest. . Any timeline where mortomancy is possible had to be far past my own time by a long shot. "How long have you been here?"

"Exactly 23 yeuhz." That was a shocker! "Ztill, I'm cuwious at how _you _got heuh and what is going on." Maybe it was his demeanor, maybe it was his cute appearance, but I just couldn't accept that Chibi was that old.

Even it was still young. "Same here."

"Do you want to come with me to one of the Ztatic Polize depawtmentz zo I can cleuh youh name?"

"Uh!?" I slapped myself a bit. It was one of those chance comments that sets your mind off like a nuclear bomb with all possible outcomes of what may happen as the radioactive fallout. Was Chibi leading me on? Or was he trying to help? It seemed suspicious, at that time, that he wanted me to go directly into a Static Police department so soon after they chased me as if I had murdered the king of the world. With no preferences and even fewer bonds, I kept my guard up.

"I've been with the Ztatic Polize for the pazt twenty thwee yeuhz, zo they twuzt me anyway. Don't wowwy, Blaze, I'll help you!"

"Thanks, Chibi." I safely assumed this automaton might be helpful to me and since it didn't seem to be a rampaging psycho, it was in my best interest to accept any help I was offered.

"Juzt call me 'Cheeb". All of my othe' fwiendz do anyway."

"F-Friend? B-But we just met!" I was stunned that this... this tiny robot half my size just called me a friend! We had only exchanged a few words. It was like meeting Cream all over again, except with only a fraction of the trust and twenty times the weirdness.

"_ZO_?" Chibi escorted me to the exit. I didn't resist. I'd rather have been anywhere _but_ there.

Wherever I was. "What is this place anyway?"

"Thiz? Oh, thiz is juzt one of the Zunday Aftuh Expo'z many zubtewanean adventuhes. I think thiz is itz Moduhn Muzeum Numbuh 4."

"Sunday After Expo?" I looked around. It's under a city. The lights are dimmed. There were cool looking luminescent blue lights coming from several places, like a fish tank, garbage can, even in one place, the floor. Many of the exhibits look odd, eccentric, and just plain out-of-place.

The fashion there was a cornucopia of bizarre anime-style haircuts and futuristic attire, along side others with jet black hair and black clothing. Others, as aforementioned, were unusually well-dressed for such a typical afternoon.

Despite the difficulty in understanding Chibi's glitched accent, he seemed like a normal kid. Er, robot.

Chibi has an octagon-esque head with a snow-white face, also octagon shape. His eyes, nose, and mouth are very human like. He has no pupils; his eyes are just black. He had 2 antennae on the sides of his head. Each could be described as a small, hemisphere with a short, 3 inch antenna coming out of it, which perhaps served as ears. He also has a small, square antenna on the top of his head. It is only about half of an inch big. From one end to the other, his head is about 9 to 10 inches long,

His chassis is kite like in appearance. Where the bottom of his head ends, since it is an octagon, the top of his chassis begins as its own segment. The top part of that goes to what could be shoulders, bends in the middle, and goes down to his torso area. Like the top of his chassis, the bottom does not have a vertex. But unlike the top, it does not have an edge either. Instead, it has 6 spike like attachments, 3 in the front, three in the back, acting almost like a messed up skirt.

He has a six sided vertical rectangular hexagon as his centerpiece for the chassis. On the top of the hexagon is a triangle pointing up. On the bottom is a triangle pointing down. Connecting these two triangles is what appears to be a line going up and down. A second, perpendicular line intersect in the very middle.

His arms and legs are a bluish silver color and are densely segmented (about one segment for every half of an inch). His feet are oval shaped and have a circle in the middle with a red X in it. His feet are also segmented. His hands are also segmented, and are small, cute, and human like, just with 4 fingers each and no natural fingerprint. His arms and legs are short. He is cute, if I haven't said it before, but I always mean it in a 'kawaii' sense. What with the odd accent and his short stature, I mistook Chibi for an anime character.

I mistook _everything_ in this twisted city for something out of a wild, demented anime.

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In the outside world, Chibi opens the door to a Static Police department for Blaze.

"Oh, thank you!" I smiled at him and bowed.

"Youuh welcome." The two walk in. I look around, mildly impressed. It didn't look_ too _futuristic. That day, that was a good thing. If I had seen just one more anti-gravity car or one more emotion scanner, I probably would have flipped.

"OK, now juzt zcan your finguhs on thiz scween," said Chibi. Chibi's accent was finally starting to take its toll on me. I tried my best to hold back a tsunami of laughter as I scanned my hand. As soon as it was finished, someone cries out over a loudspeaker, albeit at a low pitch.

"Received. All units, desist any hostilities towards former target 3432."

The Static Police are androids- small, sort of like Chibi. but they were definitely more akin to my stature. They were all dressed in skin tight, highly armoured SWAT like uniforms, all with helmets too. While some look more human, many of their faces are too similar to that of real anthropomorphic animals, but _are_ in fact androids. That simple.

"So, Cheeb, _what_ is going on here?"

"Daily life in Ticcy Z, that'z all." Any city where you get chased by super powered emos and digital crazies in ball cars and it all be called 'daily life' is a city I would never want to live in. Sonic, maybe, but definitely not me.

"It's like this all the time?"

"Yeah, pwetty much. It makez the zity faw more intewezting than it aweady is."

"And the HappyBe-erm... _Illyad_-"

"-Have been at thiz foh monthz." Chibi pushed his two tiny hands together. When he took them apart, a hologram forms and data runs through it. The hologram was small and bluish, but clear and very capable of being read.

"I wonder why they would want _**me**_. That Hayashi kid did mention someone else, but..."

"If they weh chazing you along zide of the Ztatic Polize, they muzt have chosen you out foh a pwe-meditated attack. Othuhwise, they would've let you wun on." I let out a weird sigh. I don't know what I was thinking at that one point. I just know I couldn't figure anything out.

"Ugh...I'll just have to let it slide for now. If there's anything I need to know first about this city, it's _**you**_."

"Me?" Chibi looked a bit confused.

"Of course. If I am what you say I am, _your friend_, then I must know something about_ you_. I don't know anything about why I'm here. I don't know who _you_ are. I don't know you, but seem friendly enough, so all I _can _do right now is trust you." Chibi looked a bit surprised at the moment, but then finally replied.

"Oh, of courze! Well, wheuh do I begin. I was cweated by a hypeh-cohpohation known as "Twinity" about zeventy five yeas ago as the fuhzt "chibi"." I still couldn't get over his accent.

"Which is a what?"

"A zmall, pet-like awtificial intelligenze. The clozezt thing to uz in yo' univuhze is a 'chao'."

"Are _all _chibis like you?"

"The eahliuh models, but they've long gotten bettuh. They look like zomething out of an anime cawtoon nowadays, and awe zelling like hotcakez. People awe pwetty comfohtable the conzept of having a zecond 'them' oh an odd fwiend."

"Are chibis like slaves or animals?"

"No, not weally. I guezz zinze theyuh AIBs, people tweat them like a nohmal puhson." AIBs? And once again, I stand confused. "Well. _Mozt _people." Chibi suddenly walked off, pondering about a question that had been bothering him. He looked at the hologram closer. It stared back at him like a wide-eyed wizard. "Zo if Makio Squauh is the location, then who's the tawget?" he asked, but not to me. At that time, I didn't know it.

"W-what's wrong?" I asked, stuttering. Chibi was using some sort of _holo-phone technology _I didn't quite grasp at the moment.

"Sowwy to bothuh you, pwincezz, but I believe I have zomewheuh to be wight now."

"What do you mean?"

"Zinze I help the Ztatic Polize, I often do missions foh them. Tonight is the night of a _huge Cōmpütehheadz? _conzuht in Makyo Squauh and the Illyad awe known to be out in fohze duwing times of teknik feztivities,' Chibi replied, "zo they will pwobably make a wendezvous with someone."

"If you mean you have to stop the Illyad, then I don't mind. In fact, I might as well come along for the ride."

"Aw you suah?" I noticed he looked concerned.

"Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself. I just want to know what those demented fiends are up to."

"Well, I guezz that's the zpiwit. If you inzizt...Awight, you can come"

"And what does the Illyad want with everyone?"

"Nothing. They juzt like having fun- and theiuh definition of 'fun' isn't zane. And tonight, foh weasons theiuh own, they'll be at Makio Zqauh, Uppuh Zity."

"So that's where you'll be as well." Chibi nodded and a smile rested on his digital face.

"You wed my mind, Pwincezz." I could almost feel one growing on my own.

"Please, call me Blaze."

X

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_Chapter Closed_

_**Citizen #1**_

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::::End of Chapter Notes::::Bear with me, this is long and often unrelated to anything involving the story::::So a good idea would be to skip down to the **Soundtrack**::::

I apologize for the_** constant info dumping**_ (there should be much less of that as time goes on, especially after the next four chapters), but I believe it was _more _than necessary in this case. Since the story is a rewrite of a story which was rewrite of a story which was a rewrite of chapter in a story, it's kind of hard to change this part too much. Also, notify me of any POV changes that I may have, somehow, missed. This story underwent a conversion from 3rd person to 1st person and present tense to past tense, so I've had it under a microscope for years now, yet I'm still finding errors here and there.

All of this is based off of a original fanfiction series I'm writing, The Turquoise City Chronicles, and was originally based off of this story I planned in the early summer of 2009, "Teknopathe_tik". Which, both that story and this one were once actually part of the 2009 SBDRF: Sonic and Blaze Do Russia Future. YES. THIS IS A 3 YEAR OLD STORY. DEAL.

In order to describe Chibi properly, I say you must understand the basics of 2-D and 3-D geometry. If not, have a fun time messing up Chibi in your imagination! I also envisioned him with a cross over of RobotBoy's voice and Tails's 4Kids voice.

And no, he does _not _have a Jamaican accent or anything like that. He just can't pronounce 'R's' or soft 'S's (not like 'mission' or 'desert' "s", more like "soft"). In other words, Chibi's my excuse to use a rudely massive number of misspellings and get away with it; calling them misspellings technically means you're missing the point of his dialect, and thus, the story, and ... is kinda _evidence _you're an English Nazi- thus, not sufficient enough evidence for this story to be deleted.

Teknopathe_tik's still around, but I stopped planning on that to work on KashMir (An early draft KashMir _IS_ actually on FictionPress, but that's a pre-historic version of it. It bears absolutely _no_ resemblance to the new KashMir I'm talking about now, which has actually been lying in repose for 20 months now.)

I stopped working on KashMir in October 2010.

The Turquoise City Chronicles came as a saving throw to try to develop KM's background and setting and bring some sanity and originality back.

But eventually, The Turquoise City Chronicles _also _became too realistic, so the 'animemo' "It's A Wonderful World" is actually an attempt to at least 'anime-ize' the TCC, which will help anime-ize KashMir, which will help out the long-already animemo Teknopathe_tik. I hate fanfiction webs too.

_Animemo_- Anime+Grunge+Emo Mostly anime and grunge though. In fact, 90% anime and grunge. Basically cross The World Ends With You with Jet Set Radio, Fooly Cooly, Mirror's Edge, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and Bleach, and then give it a plot. I think it's safe to add Durarara to that list!) I'd say that animemo is most noticeable by the music- generally, it would be a mix what I have as the soundtrack now, mixed with Fooly Cooly's sound (The Pillows), maybe with some other electronic, grunge, some daft punks, and piano blended in.

To those who read the original _It's A Wonderful World_ over three years ago as "Take One (After Two)" in SBDRF, _**congratulations!**_ I should give you an award!_** But I'm not.**_ To those who read _It's A Wonderful World_ as it appeared in August 2009, I give you a, albeit less whole hearted, congratulations. If you read it as it appeared in July 2010, good for you. If you read it as it appeared earlier this month, I really don't care. Glad you're still reading it though.

_**Please review! Thank you!**_ _In fact, don't even click off the story without reviewing! (Locks the door) _Just kidding. Review _**only **_if you have something worthwhile to say. **Any** concrit is considered worthwhile.

_**Soundtrack **__(If you want __**It's A Wonderful World 100%**__; Check them out on YouTube)_

"Shine"-Alcorus. Theme/Prologue

"Fragile"- Daft Punk. _"Just Another Day"_, Turquoise City sight seeing.

"I'm Not A Model"- Jet Set Radio Future. "_Just Another Day?_/ _Primal Instincts_ Chase scene"

"The Shard- Puzzle"- Mirror's Edge. "_Primal Instincts_ Floating Downstream"

"Ill Victory Beat"- JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future -" _Primal Instincts_ Hayashi X Theme."

"Stalker"- The Pillows/FLCL- "_Primal Instincts _Hayashi Is Onto Me"

"Right Here, Right Now"- Fatboy Slim. "_Primal Instincts_ chase theme"

"Super Brothers"- JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future- "_Blink _chase theme:

"Faust"- Gorillaz. _"Blink_ Blaze Meets Chibi"

"Shibuya"- The World Ends With You. "_Friend?_ SAE Underground "

"Urban Psychedelic"- Durarara! "_Friend? _Static Police Station"


	5. Making a Devil out of the Angel

_(5) Making A Devil Out of The Angel_

_Makyo Square, Upper City, Turquoise City_

_7:52 PM_

_The brightness and joy of the day eventually gave way to the gloom and mystery of the night. In such a geometric city such as Turquoise City, shadows always seem to dance in the corner of your eye. When you look, all you see are holograms and droids playing with the upgraded._

So we went to this place called "Makyo Square" somewhere in Turquoise City's so-called "Upper City."

We picked the wrong night to come to Makyo Square. Although the entire city seems to throw a party whenever it darn well felt like throwing one, tonight is the night of a hyped concert for a progressive pop band, _Cōmpüterheads? _Tekniks from all over were expected to come.

Chibi and I met up in a square plaza somewhere in the Upper City, where the ground is cobblestone and no-space-in-between kiosks create a twisty maze-like environment. Neon string lights hang from just about anywhere something that can be hung could be hung, and neon signs, Chinese lanterns, and "black light" emitting lanterns light up the night.

Reflective panels finished it off. The neo-post futurism style of the buildings gives the square its own progressive feel. Colour exists in this place as well. It's the now intrinsic red, yellow, and blue. That's Makyo Square; a topsy turvy mess.

Racing to Makyo Square, Chibi and I got there with great time to spare. Without a word muttered, the we split up. I went left; Chibi, right. We were to wait for the Illyad, and until then, we could not make our presence known.

Since I knew the least about what's going on, I just followed Chibi's lead to the best of my abilities- I accidentally ran to a street _outside _of Makyo Square, into this place called the Star Light Grove Business District, where there were a lot of tall skyscrapers and business typed buildings- most likely home to frat parties for when employees are done for the day. This was also the way to the easiest access to the Trinity SpaceScraper.

I sneaked behind the buildings and down several streets, careful not to be too noticeable.

If the Illyad wanted me dead, the "best" thing to do was to 'be as bright, loud, and noticeable as possible'.

In the meantime, Chibi, who seemed to know almost every square inch of Turquoise City, waltzed into one Makyo Square's maze of Paris-esque mini-streets. He moved into what is known as "The Blue Zone", an area that is lit by blue neon/fluorescent lights and built with blue materials. Chibi quickly dashes through The Blue Zone, jumping onto the top of many small, two story buildings, running on the ledges of a building that's hollow and skeletal, then riding on the moving skin of the main building- a huge cylinder in the middle of it. He looked down into the alleyways of Makyo Square, making sure that he didn't miss one _mote _of the Illyad's presence.

"I guezz they'uh juzt not heuh," guessed Chibi as he scratched his little, metal chin. Since Makyo Square was so packed tonight, they could be anywhere, doing anything. They fit into the crowd quite well. He tried to keep his eyes peeled.

Chibi told me that, with Hayashi leading them as usual, the four were walking along, with Hayashi skating, their hands in their pockets as if they were just having a night out on the town.

They casually eased down a small, blue-lit road. Various peoples who either aren't in or jump out of their way give them cold looks.

Chibi ran to the edge of the roof, careful not to trash his precious element of surprise. He crouched down by a railing and moved parallel of the Illyad at a high speed.

Hayashi, oblivious to the tiny robot spying on him and the other Illyad from what is now behind him, breaks apart from the Illyad. I don't know myself, but maybe he did see or hear Chibi and just didn't acknowledge him.

He sailed down a smaller street, just gloomily gliding and minding his own business. Chibi had to think for a second. Who should he go after first? He quickly made up his mind, deciding that the 3 Illyad NSRs should be first. He began his pursuit, jumping from building to building.

As for me, I ran into a Static Police blockade, and I couldn't get past it anytime soon. I decided to walk down a road leading back to Makyo Square. I looked upon the entire city, lit up like a burning Christmas tree, the moon shining across my face. I couldn't help but think a nagging thought.

_What am I doing here? Why am I helping some robot chase down a bunch of criminals? It's his problem. I shouldn't even be here right now. But . . ._

Doubt was the Satan on my back, telling me I wasn't even doing the right thing, that I was humiliating myself. I stopped walking.__My mind was a super typhoon. Now I began to question everything I was told. What if the Static Police are oppressing these people? What if the Illyad are the good guys and I'm just being tricked? What if this is all an illusion and I'm stuck in Eggman Nega's lair with some virtual reality helmet glued to my head?

The more I questioned, the more the people on the street became black apparitions, disjointed from reality. The more I questioned, the more reality became an enemy.__I realized by going crazy, I was going nowhere. I had to choose sides.

I chose my own.

_**Of course I don't belong here. I've been wasting all my time trying to help these people when it seems clear that they don't even need help. Look at them! It almost seems as if they want that Illyad to stay! And if they do, then why am I here? I serve no purpose in this farce. If I'm done, I should just go while Chibi doesn't know I left.**_

While I was lost in my train of thought, I didn't notice Hayashi skating right past me.

"Wait a second..." Hayashi turned towards me after stopping. That's when I noticed him, after he saw me.

"_Oh...no,_" I moaned.

"Aren't you that cat girl I'm supposed to wreck?" By the time Hayashi had finished, I had darted down the street as fast as I could.

Back on the other side of Makyo Square, Chibi, unaware of the conflict brewing on the opposite side of the square, continued spying on the three Illyad, careful to keep his distance. NSR's are psychos.

"I wonduh what they want heuh ... Theuh awe _nevuh _in Makyo Squauh, let alone the Uppuh Zity. They alwayz terrorize _Zen _Squauh...I wonder if it has something to do with the attack of The Wavenz a few nights ago..." Chibi aw that the Illyad were heading straight for a gothic lamp post, protruding in the middle of a secondary plaza.

He couldn't do it. He'd _easily _be beaten to death, despite his popularity in Turquoise City! Most will abandon him the second he'd get in trouble.

At that same time, a group of five goth girls walked up to the lamp post. The Illyad, who were leaning on it a second ago, stood straight up.

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The colours of dusk had totally given way to the bleakness of night. What was a dark indigo with deep scarlet horizons is now extreme deep indigo, almost black, with a lighter deep cerulean on the edge of the sky. Stars, despite the hustle and bustle of the city, are clearly visible in mass droves.

"This is wrong, _very __**very**_ wrong!" I shouted to the world as I panted. The Upper City of Turquoise City flew by me on all sides, but Hayashi was always behind me. No matter how fast I ran, no matter how far I pushed myself, I could never seem to maintain a lead over Hayashi. He just kept getting closer _and closer and closer_, as if to symbolize death creeping up on one trying to avoid its terrifying claws.

Luckily, Chibi was around to hear my cry of annoyance.

"Blaze! Wun back to Makyo Squauh!" shouted Chibi. I didn't waste a second. Whether or not I had a reason to be here, I wasn't going to _die _here! I heeded Chibi's words and turned around. Hayashi was able to about face and nearly caught me in the process.  
But I was able to get back to Makyo Square, running down a small overhanging path. Hayashi was in a position in which he had no choice but follow a route under me.

"Son of ..." Hayashi jetted past the pathway and stopped in front of me. I skidded- what Hayashi wanted. This is because he was able to double-foot kick me when I least expected it, making me recoil and half over.

But the kick was nothing to talk about. I withstood punches from trained bears_ five times my size_. It was too easy to rebound and slip past him. "You've got to be kidding me!" Hayashi decides to use pure speed to chase me down, but Chibi and I met up. Hayashi, on a burst of speed, jumped to pounce on us, but Chibi, who thankfully had built-in anti-gravity technology, or maybe it was resonance enhancement, built in to the soles of his metallic feet, was able to bring both of us up to a height Hayashi couldn't hope to reach.

"So you wanna _play _with me..." We made eye contact. For the first time, he seemed truly serious. "Damn, cat. Just tryin' to _save _you."

"_Save me?!_" I hissed. "You've been trying to _kill _me ever since I met you!" He scoffed, then growled.

"_Change of plans._ What can I say? _I'm_ not running this joke. That's for _damn _sure!" Hayashi, once again, had split to find his friends. After a moment or two, the four dashed away into the night. We attempted to run after them, but stopped short.

"Well _that_ was a gigantic waste of time," I rubbed my head and sighed, relieved that I survived such an attack. Instantly, anger took over me. I was angry I didn't go on the offensive when I had the chance. Hayashi isn't strong, and I just let him get away!

"At leazt we found the Illyad foh onze. Uzually, theuh'aw the onez who find _uz_," commented Chibi.

"I just wonder what is it they want with me," I asked, arms folded and looking into the Lower City.

"I have _no _idea. But all I can zay is that tonight, _you_ _wuhn't_ theiuh tawget." Chibi and I turned around to see The Ravens, all tied up in a broken pile. I sighed. I've seen such sights before, I'd hate admit. I say, I've seen worse, in fact. Chibi walked up to them, wincing. He expected much worse from the Illyad- usually, their targets don't _breathe_ or _have a pulse_ or _awe in one piece_ after they "play" with them. "The Ravenz," he mutters. I immediately looked up. His eyes connected with mine for a moment before he looked back at the broken girls. "It'z juzt N-Ez-Aw violenze," assumes Chibi, checking to see whether the catatonic girls really are alive, was glad to see they _did _survive the Illyad attack, albeit in extreme and immediate need of medical attention.

"Huh..." I couldn't comprehend why a society would tolerate such violence. For the first time, I felt some sort of relief, as if the light of Heaven shone down u pon my Illyad were psychos. But then he mentioned 'saving' me, and that he wasn't the mastermind behind all of this... I shoved it under the rug of my mind and pretended it was the monster under my bed that didn't exist. "So the NSRs that keep appearing, the Illyad-"

"Lizten, we should pwobably be getting back to the Ztatic Polize ztation," Chibi said a bit gloomily. He had just finished requesting for medical backup while putting a glittery silver goo on the wounds of the ruined NSRs.

"Actually, I was thinking earlier, why should I still be here? I have an entire kingdom to rule, as well as incredibly powerful gems I must keep safe. I don't think I should have even been here in the first place. It feels like everything that has gone on so far has been because of me- and I don't exactly like it when things like that unfold. So, I've been trying to say that I should just go now, before anything else happens. If that's okay with you."

"Yez, of cohze, I unduhztand. I wouldn't like it if evuhthing bad that'z pozzible happens to othuhz all becauze of me eithuh. If you weally muzt go, then you _should_. I won't ztop you." He said this with a smile, as if he were not offended at all. His smile was yet another ray of Heaven's light on my face.

"Thanks. I don't mean to trouble you." I tried making a devil out of the angel that was warning me I was making a suicidal mistake.

"No pwoblem! Whenevuh you feel like coming back,_ if _you awe evuh able to get back in owuh weality again, I'll be heuh, waiting!" I began to walk off. Thinking about the situation for a single second, I changed my mind.

"Actually...Cheeb, I guess...I'll stay...one more night," was a response that took both of us several seconds to realize I had actually said out loud. Chibi, walking away by this point, turned around. It felt like he took years.

"Un?" I'm certain he wasn't expecting that.

"Well, what's the worst that could happen?" I shrugged in acceptance, naively guessing that the worst was behind us. He pondered for a moment, then spoke to me.

"In that caze, then tomowow we'll head to Deuh God'z Path. I want to show you zomething- it might help you unduhztand what'z going on!"

"D-dear God's Path?" I asked. I had never heard of anything _like _"Dear God's Path" before. Now I really was starting to regret this.

"You'll zee, my fwiend. You'll zee."

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**-**___**It's A Wonderful World**_

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	6. A Blind Minotaur

_(6) A Blind Minotaur_

* * *

**Static Police station #?**

**11:01 PM**

Chibi, whose robotics and built-in technology allowed him to avoid sleep, was preparing to go on his usual nighttime outings, Before he did that, we engaged in a small discussion.

"So let me get this straight... Emura is a subcontinent?" I asked as I rubbed my chin at the complexities of Emura. I was munching on some sort of superfood that's supposedly enhanced by 'nanobots' at that time as well.

"And it'z a fine one at that." replied Chibi.

"Is it large enough to have its own countries?"

"Yez. Actually, it has 4 of them, dubbed 'ztatez', although they may not be the kind of ztatez states you're used to. Mezzigiorno, Zaxon, The Velad, and, of course, the Tuhquoize Zity-Ztate. There will be a new "ztate" soon, thankz to hypuh corporations zuch az Twinity and Janvieh, the _TZ Auhspaze_, complementing itz TZ ZkyComplez and _Cloud Zity_ projectz."

"So, all of these states...What are they like?"

"The Mezzigiorno has evuhwything you'd expect to find in a Gweco-Woman typed enviwonment, and it'z the only dizputed ztated. A monawchy rulez Emura fwom here , but evuhwyone in it awe total pazifiztz- they wouldn't hawm a _fly_. The Zaxon is lozt in the 15th century, even though we gave them the mozt advanzed technology to date. Inhabitantz theuh don't even know what a lightbulb is. And to add to that, it zeemz 2 wival kingdomz in that ztate awe at wauh. A very..._fantaztic_ wauh."

"A fantastic war? You don't mean-" Yes, just _keep _on going, I thought. _Keep making it weirder_.

"Yez, evuhwything you'd expect from a fantaztic mid-Eahth novel is in that ztate for zome weazon. That plaze is zo much fun. Femto technology has weally zaved alchemy, othuh wise, it would have been lozt forevuh."

"Alchemy? They study alchemy there?" _That _certainly interested me. I don't mention it much, but I've always liked to dabble in medieval magic, including alchemy, myself sometimes. And then he mentioned femto-technology. That was also an eye opener. That meant this planet's technological development is so advanced, they're working on sizes even _smaller _than subatomic scale. That would explain why there would be magic in that area.

"Why don't I give you a wide ovuh theuh on horze back and zhow you zome of the wohld'z mozt expenzive 'golden coppuh'."

"And The Velad?"

"That one'z a bit moh ... myzteriouz. For zome reazon, thwee quarterz of all the zand in The Velad is ... unusually looze."

"Loose... Quicksand?"

"Exactly! That'z the word! After that, not much is known, exzept that an ancient, extwemely unknown civilization wesided theh 50,000 yearz ago. It'z only majoh zity is Veladinztad, and I," he begins before trailing off a bit before returning, "I tend to _avoid _Veladinztad."

"And I'm pretty sure I know the Turquoise State," I commented and rubbed the back of my head.

" I don't think I'm biazed when I zay it'z my favouwite." I chuckled at that comment. Perhaps it was because I thought Turquoise City was a collective mental case. Chibi walked to a wall and touched a bare part of it. Instantly, a huge holo-map popped up on the wall. It's a map of Turquoise City. Then he opened up another one and yet _another_ one.

"_Thiz _is Tuquoize Zity. We uzually call it "Ticcy Z" Of course he meant Ticcy C. Hayashi said the same thing so now I could only play it as it was taken and assume that really was named Ticcy C.

"_A-a-all of this_?" I was taken by surprise. I knew Turquoise City was big, but Turquoise City's immense size actually sent _chills _up my spine. One wall-sized map barely contained all of one_ section_ of the city, yet that one section had to have been five times the size of the largest city in my kingdom.

"Thiz is the Lower Zity," Chibi points out as he points to the left-most map."It's faw mouh denzely populated than anywhe'e elze in the wohld. It boaztz mozt of the tallezt buildings in Tuquoise Zity and is, pehapz, the fazhion and cultu'e centre of the wohld." I _knew _the city seemed strange. It's a freaky fashion haven, no wonder!

"Mozt zupuh-attwaczonz in Tuhquoize Zity awe located heuh az well. This is Zentuh Zity." Chibi pointed the centre-most map. "It'z what connectz the Lowyh Zity to the Uppuh Zity. 5 milez long, theuh iz no othuh populated zlope of land like it." I remembered that one. It wa where I could see clouds above and below me! "Theuh'z a lot I could say about this part, like the Budatin Powuh Plant, but I won't boh you."

I scanned the map. Even in this Centre City, it appeared as if entire cities could fit into it as well. In fact, there were clusters of buildings that did look like separate areas. I also saw that green clashed with the colours of the city. That could only mean there were forests inside the megalopolis.

"So-" I began before being cut off.

"_Then _there'z the Uppuh Zity. The buildings here and almozt as tall as the onez in the Lower Zity. But to make up foh it, it alzo boaztz _the _tallezt building in the world, _**The Twinity ZpaceZcwapuh" **_I know what that is now, but at the time, the concept of a _space scraper _seemed far out there.** "**You'll find out that thiz is where mozt people like to hang out, mainly because of its unpawalleled view. Beyond that is the Rigizonea Zeville Dejurnz and other partz of Emuwa. I won't get into detail with those aweas wight now."

"Wow... This is one _complex _place." I marvelled at the size and scope of this one city. Being an imperial monarch, I had to feel a little envious at its achievements. We couldn't build anything _close _to this in my world or Sonic's. We wouldn't even attempt to try. It would take hundreds of years, then bankrupt us thousands of times over.

"You don't know the half of it, fwiend. We have citiez _under _citiez, citiez _in _citiez, and citiez _above _citiez. All for evweyone to enjoy. If they zo please."

"So, Cheeb, how long have you been with the Static Police?" I asked.

"At mozt, twenty yeuhs. I know about all of theiuh opohwationz and prozeduhz, zo I'm well rezpected heuh."

"Heh. You'd think androids wouldn't know the word 'respect'," I laughed.

"What are you talking about? They're all AI robotz, juzt like me."

"AIs... That reminds me to ask you something. I just don't know how to say it." I thought about what I was saying, wondering if any of my suspicions were, in any form, true. I walked a short way in front of Chibi, not making eye contact.

"Try me," he gave to me. I sighed and turned around.

"I must admit, for a futuristic world, this place is a bit... _unrealistic_. But so are the people in it." I could tell from Chibi's expression that he knew where I was going. "I don't even know anything about you, _you _you, not just you, nor do I know anything about the Static Police or the Illyad." The more I spoke, the more I began to realize I was a blind Minotaur lost in its galaxy wide labyrinth that everyone else knew the way out of. "I still don't know who's my friend. Everything's twisted and nothing makes sense."

"Lizten, Blaze, juzt wait until tomawow. Meet me at Deuh God'z Path. _Wemembuh- Deuh God'z Path_." Chibi then began to walk for the exit.

"Uh- w-w-wait! _Where is Dear God's Path_?! _**What**__ is Dear God's Path?!_" I stuttered. I tried to stop Chibi from going, just so I could ask what he was talking about. Being the odd man out, out of the loop is one of my biggest pet peeves.

"You can't mizz it. Juzt look foh the _Zunday Aftuh Expo 'Wocket Towuh'_, and walk into the gween fields." Chibi closed the door behind him and I don't even know what he did after that. "I'll be waiting!" He cheered one last time and shut the door.

"Okay..." My arms folded, I stood there and began to think. I tried to close myself off from the world for a minute, trying to shove the shapes into their holes but they wouldn't go in. I knew more about Chibi than I did this city.

The only words that came to mind were "Illyad, Static Police, and Sunday After Expo." After another minute that bore no results, I tried to think about the other things, such as some of the places and people Hayashi mentioned, but easily threw those out of mind as well. The only thing that really bothered me about Hayashi was what he said earlier...

OoOo~OoOoOo~OoOoOoOo~OoOo~OoOo~OoOoOo~OoOoOoOo~OoOo

OoOo~OoOoOo~OoOoOoOo~OoOo~OoOo~OoOoOo~OoOoOoOo~OoOo

"So you wanna _play _with me... Damn, cat. Just tryin' to _save _you."

"_Save me?!_" I hissed back at him. I wasn't ready for what he said next. "You've been trying to _kill _me ever since I met you!" He scoffed, then growled.

"_Change of plans._ What can I say? _I'm_ not running this joke. That's for _damn _sure!" Those words now echo in my mind, playing over and over like a broken record on a broken turntable.

OoOo~OoOoOo~OoOoOoOo~OoOo~OoOo~OoOoOo~OoOoOoOo~OoOo

OoOo~OoOoOo~OoOoOoOo~OoOo~OoOo~OoOoOo~OoOoOoOo~OoOo

I also began questioning Chibi, wondering if, perhaps, I had given him too much trust too soon.

One recurring question repeatedly dragged me down-

_Why am __**I**__, of all people, a part of this?_


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